Ritual Theory and Political Theatre: "Quinta Temporada" and "Slave Ship"

Abstract

In the 1960s and 1970s, experimental theatre artists such as Peter Brook and Richard Schechner actively researched tribal rituals and sought to recapture the essence of ritual within their performance work. Their research carried them as far away as Africa and South America, while their theatrical experimentation evolved through numerous permutations. Still, a more effective actualization of the ritual experience, at this same time, could be seen in the performances of such socially-committed American theatres as Luis Valdez's El Teatro Campesino and LeRoi Jones's Spirit House Movers. The audience for their theatres was cognizant of their political perspective and usually committed to the cause expoused in the plays. During the more effective performances, this radical audience joined with the activists/performers in a communal celebration. As Valdez himself remarked, Audience participation is no cute production trick with us; it is a pre-established, preassumed privilege.1 Socially-committed theatre was often a dynamic experience similar to early tribal rituals. In fact, when successful, the early plays of El Teatro Campesino and Spirit House were a return to theatre at its most fundamental level.